Robsart, Saskatchewan

Community in Saskatchewan, Canada

For other uses, see Robsart (disambiguation).

Unincorporated hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada

Robsart

Unincorporated hamlet

Main Street, Robsart, 2007

Motto:

"A Town With a Bright Future" (1915)

Robsart

Show map of Reno No. 51

Robsart

Show map of Saskatchewan

Coordinates: 49°22′22″N 109°16′55″W﻿ / ﻿49.3729°N 109.282°W﻿ / 49.3729; -109.282
Country| Canada
Province| Saskatchewan
Region| Southwest
Rural municipality| Reno No. 51
Established| 1910
Incorporated (Village)| 1912
Dissolved (unincorporated)| January 1, 2002
Government

• Governing body| Reno No. 51[1]
• Reeve| Brian McMillan
• Administrator| Lacelle Kim
• MLA| Doug Steele
• MP| Jeremy Patzer
Area

• Total

| 7.91 km2 (3.05 sq mi)
Population

(2016)

• Total

| 20
• Density| 11.7/km2 (30/sq mi)
Time zone| UTC-6 (CST)
Postal code|

S0N 2G0

Area code| 306
Highways|  Highway 13
Highway 18
Railways| Great Western Railway
[2][3][4][5]

Robsart is an unincorporated hamlet within the Rural Municipality of Reno No. 51, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Robsart had a population of 20 at the 2016 Canada Census (a 100% increase from 10 in the 2011 Canada Census). Robsart previously incorporated an independent village since 1912 until it was dissolved into an unincorporated community on January 1, 2002, under the jurisdiction of the rural municipality of Reno No. 51. Robsart is located 48 kilometres (30 mi) southwest of the town of Eastend at the junction of Highway 18 and Highway 13 (also known as the historic Red Coat Trail) approximately 170 kilometres (110 mi) south-east of Medicine Hat, Alberta, 68 kilometres (42 mi) south of the town of Maple Creek.

## History

[edit]

Canadian Pacific Railway Station after completion 1914 CPR station and business core 1914 Installation of wood sidewalks 1915

Prior to January 1, 2002, Robsart was incorporated as a village, and was dissolved into an unincorporated community under the jurisdiction of the Rural Municipality of Reno on that date.[6]

In 1910, Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) purchased a quarter section of land in the southwest region of Saskatchewan and called it Robsart. The land was named after Amy Robsart, from the Sir Walter Scott book, Kenilworth. Three years later the land was bought by a man named Henry Abbott, who led the first settlers to the new community. Shortly after the settlers arrived, many businesses started to go up quickly. Two of the first businesses were a general store and feed mill, and soon 30 other businesses, including a dentist, jeweller, and a surgeon, arrived.

### Boom years

[edit]

When the CPR finished the construction of the Stirling-Weyburn line, a boom occurred, bringing in even more prosperity for the small community. Almost weekly new businesses were opening, bringing new hotels, cafés, churches, livery barns, a school, banks, grain elevators, and its own public hospital which opened its doors in 1917 and still stands today. Ten years after the town of Robsart was established it had a population of 350 residents, its own town hall, mayor, town council, and around more than 50 businesses. The town was so prosperous that one postcard with a picture of Robsart bore the ironic motto "A town with a bright future".

### Great Depression

[edit]

The former Robsart Public Hospital opened in 1918 and closed in the late 1930s One of the remaining abandoned storefronts, from the once prosperous business section

In the late 1920s, Robsart's prosperous beginnings began a long decline. Starting with a grain elevator fire in 1929, one year later another blaze wiped out a large section of the business core. Next was the Great Depression, accompanying droughts, falling grain prices and poor crop yields, which caused further business closures in the once industrious business core. Many merchants were hit hard by crippling financial losses and had to leave in search for a better way of life. Since the beginning of the Great Depression the community has struggled but never with the same early pioneer optimism.

The Robsart Community Hall renovated in the 1980s by local residents and farmers now sits idle, used for special occasions

In the 1980s, locals and nearby farmers rallied together and renovated the old community hall in hopes of reviving the once thriving town, but one by one most remaining businesses and homes were boarded up, including Robsart's Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Pioneer elevators which were demolished in 2000. Both had played a crucial role in the community over the years. Finally on January 1, 2002, due to dwindling population, the village of Robsart was dissolved, and is now governed by the RM of Reno No. 51.

### Our Side of The Hills: community book

[edit]

In the early 1990s, former and current residents of Robsart got together and made a community history book; Our Side of The Hills.[7] Former mayor and resident Archie Smiley submitted a revised version of an old poem called "Ode to Robsart".[8]

## Demographics

[edit]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Robsart had a population of 15 living in 5 of its 6 total private dwellings, a change of -25% from its 2016 population of 20. With a land area of 1.67 km2 (0.64 sq mi), it had a population density of 9.0/km2 (23.3/sq mi) in 2021.[9]

Canada census – Robsart, Saskatchewan community profile

| 2016| 2011

|
|

Population| 20 (+100.0% from 2011)| 10 (-37.5% from 2006)
Land area| 7.91 km2 (3.05 sq mi)| 7.91 km2 (3.05 sq mi)
Population density| 11.7/km2 (30/sq mi)| 5.8/km2 (15/sq mi)
Median age| |
Private dwellings| 4 (total)  | 8 (total)
Median household income| |

References: 2016[10] 2011[11]

## Infrastructure

[edit]

* Great Western Railway, a Canadian short line railway company operating on former Canadian Pacific Railway trackage in southwest Saskatchewan.[12][13]
* Highway 13 — the Red Coat Trail
* Highway 18

## Attractions

[edit]

Local attractions/sites of interest

* Robsart Art Works, features Saskatchewan artists featuring photographers of old buildings and towns throughout Saskatchewan.[14]
* Beaver lumber Co. Ltd., one of the last remaining original storefronts along Main Street
* Robsart Hospital, a former community hospital opened in 1918 which still stands today and is known as the only known pioneer hospital of its kind in Saskatchewan, if not Western Canada
* Robsart Community Hall, refinished in the 1980s by locals and farmers and still in use today for special occasions
* Robsart Community Curling Rink, no longer in use but still stands.
* Vidora Cafe, a former cafe saved from demolition and moved from Vidora to Robsart. The cafe is one of few buildings that originate from Vidora. Only two other buildings still stand on Vidora's original town site, old foundations and wooden sidewalks can still be seen when walking the streets of the former town site.

Regional attractions

* Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, an interprovincial park straddling the southern Alberta-Saskatchewan border, located north-west of Robsart. It is Canada's first and only interprovincial park.
* Cypress Hills Vineyard & Winery, open by appointment only from Christmas until May 14.[15]

## Notable people

[edit]

* Eiliv Anderson was a corporate executive with a degree from the executive program of Queen's University's School of Business

## See also

[edit]

* List of communities in Saskatchewan

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Reno No. 51
2. ^ National Archives, Archivia Net. "Post Offices and Postmasters". Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved January 17, 2008.
3. ^ Government of Saskatchewan, MRD Home. "Municipal Directory System". Archived from the original on November 21, 2008.
4. ^ Canadian Textiles Institute. (2005). "CTI Determine your provincial constituency". Archived from the original on September 11, 2007.
5. ^ Commissioner of Canada Elections, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada (2005). "Elections Canada On-line".
6. ^ "Restructured Villages". Saskatchewan Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2008.
7. ^ Our Side of The Hills - Reno History Book Association
8. ^ Johnnie Bachusky Saskatchewan Ghost towns Retrieved on 2008-12-23.
9. ^ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada and designated places". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
10. ^ "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. August 12, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
11. ^ "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
12. ^ Great Western Railway
13. ^ Red Coat Road & Rail Ltd. - RCRR
14. ^ Robsart Art Works[usurped]
15. ^ Cypress Hills Vineyard & Winery

Places adjacent to Robsart, Saskatchewan

| Oxarat | Maple Creek | Palisade

|
|

|  |
Vidora |

Robsart

| Eastend
|  |
Nashlyn | Rangeview | Claydon

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* Eastend
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* Bracken
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Special service areas|

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* Orkney
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* See also: Municipalities in Saskatchewan
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